YouTube description: When scientists first split the atom, they didn’t realize what they’d done until physicist Lise Meitner figured out they had discovered what we now call nuclear fission.... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 4 months 2 weeks ago • 729 views • 6:41

I made a brick mold that makes bricks 25 x 12.5 x 7.5 cm from wood. A log was split and mortise and tenon joints were carved using a stone chisel and sharp rocks. The mold was lashed together with cane... continue reading

posted by Mordhaus 7 years 4 months 3 weeks ago • 1,024 views • 10:47

The Soviet TU-144 came out earlier, and flew faster than the better known Concorde (on which it was heavily based thanks to spies), so why didn't it become the better known supersonic carrier? Was it simple... continue reading

posted by RFlagg 7 years 4 months 4 weeks ago • 2,738 views • 6:50

In Crawfordsville, Indiana, there's a rotary jail: an invention that, with hindsight, should probably never have been built. But it was, here and in other towns across the United States. It might have... continue reading

posted by Mordhaus 7 years 5 months ago • 759 views • 3:17

YouTube description: In the region of Cusco in Peru, a unique centuries-old Incan tradition continues to this day. Each year during the second week of June, hundreds of locals gather to hand build a... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 5 months 1 week ago • 1,204 views • 3:48

YouTube: In the 1950s, the people of Minamata, Japan started seeing strange behavior from the local cats, and it wasn't long before humans were showing the same symptoms.

posted by PlayhousePals 7 years 5 months 1 week ago • 669 views • 5:25

Electrifying! In Select Theaters 11/24/2017 YouTube: Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse, THE CURRENT WAR is the epic story of the cutthroat competition... continue reading

posted by PlayhousePals 7 years 5 months 1 week ago • 693 views • 2:34

This is very much not how I remember it being reported around the time of the repair mission. I'm sure that at the time it was incorrectly reported as being due to the effect of grinding the mirror under... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 6 months 2 weeks ago • 1,191 views • 7:52

YouTube description: Many structures built by ancient Romans around 2,000 years ago are still standing, and some are still in excellent condition. Over the last decade, researchers have come discover... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 7 months 2 weeks ago • 688 views • 1:58

Real Engineering goes into the history of the US GPS system.

posted by RFlagg 7 years 8 months ago • 1,073 views • 7:42

YouTube description: The Park-Car was invented by Brooks Walker in the 1930s and patented in the 1950s. The car included a fifth wheel that allowed it to rotate in and out of parking spaces, as well... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 8 months ago • 503 views • 1:31

Exurb1a gives his take on Western Philosophy.

posted by w1ndex 7 years 8 months 3 weeks ago • 364 views • 9:15

YouTube description: Jim Woodward is a lampist. A what, you ask? A lampist's main job is to keep the enormous, delicate glass lenses of lighthouse lights in tip-top shape so that ships at sea stay safe.... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 8 months 4 weeks ago • 38 views • 2:52

On the subject of lead, mentalfloss recently had an interesting article on Clair Patterson (the most important scientist you've probably never heard of) who was the first to realise how much lead was in... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 8 months 4 weeks ago • 348 views • 5:14

YouTube Description: View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history...Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water –– and from sugary Turkish Rize tea to salty Tibetan... continue reading

posted by Joe Motion (lurgee) 7 years 9 months ago • 1,105 views • 4:58

YouTube description: It's an omnipresent image that has inspired music, tattoos, and even an emoji on your phone. But Hokusai's Great Wave is a woodblock print that was made to be reproduced. What's... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 9 months ago • 645 views • 8:35

Given it's on QI, one can presume it isn't the obvious, to cut wood or trees... I'll avoid channels that might give it away. To be fair though, I have to wonder if this is just a case that it looks... continue reading

posted by RFlagg 7 years 9 months ago • 1,938 views • 4:51

Exploring a few innovations in nuclear power generation that could make new plants much safer...if we were still making new plants.

posted by newtboy 7 years 9 months ago • 629 views • 8:11